Press-on pallet support

ABSTRACT

Metal supports of open frame or slatted construction for selffastening to a wooden or composition decking of a pallet to provide support for the deck. Each support has a plurality of prongs extending from at least one end of an open frame upright wall to penetrate into the pallet decking during construction of the pallet. The walls of the support member may be tapered so as to facilitate the nesting of a plurality of like supports to reduce storage space requirements and increase ease of handling prior to use in assembly of the pallet.

[ 1 Sept. 17, 1974 United States Patent [191 Brown PRESS-ON PALLETSUPPORT [76] Inventor:

3,130,692 4/1964 Burk et 108/51 3,148,637 9/1964 3,641,948

Dwight C. Brown, 5712 N. 20th St. Arlington, Va. 22205 Sept. 7, 1972Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam Attorney, Agent, or Firm [22] Filed:

Wigman & Cohen App]. No.: 286,892

[57] ABSTRACT Metal supports of open frame or slatted construction108/51 fig 2 9 for self-fastening to a wooden or composition decking85/1 1 M of a pallet to provide support for the deck. Each sup- [51]Int. [58] Field of port has a plurality of prongs extending from atleast one end of an open frame upright wall to penetrate into the palletdecking during construction of the pal- [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PAT ENTS let. The walls of the support member may be tapered --6Din im f e mo m Sb mm s y .nm$ m me u Faun IUWl-Il F 8% g a u n 60 M 06'a m; r ms. 0 1 p e 1 n n m n awn C uu 0 o I mmw a ow t e SST. fi ak l0.13 mPcP 7 76 555 5 Ill/ll 88858 00080/ ll] 1 h 0 PRESS-ON PALLETSUPPORT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to supports for apallet deck and more particularly to a support for a pallet deck havingprongs that are pressed into and through the decking to fasten thesupport to the deck members, thus eliminating the need for conventionalfasteners, such as nails, staples, etc.

In my prior US. Pat. No. 3,641,948 entitled Press-on Support for aPallet granted Feb. 15 1972, I disclosed various modifications of asolid wall press-on type pallet support having a plurality oflongitudinal reenforcing ribs integrally formed therein, each of theribs terminating at one or both ends in a prong or dual prongs, and aplurality of horizontal tabs spaced between the ribs for contacting andsupporting the pallet deck after fastening of the support thereto.

Such a solid wall metal support performs very satisfactory. However,production of such supports requires the use of expensive forming andmolding dies. I have found that such die costs can be drasticallyreduced by the use of amesh or open frame metal wall construction and itis to that end that the present invention is directed.

2. Description of the Prior Art Pallets are widely utilized inconnection with the handling, storage and distribution of merchandise.Typically, wooden pallets comprise rectangular single or double deckplatforms, constructed of plywood sheet or other material, or spacedindividual lumber boards fastened to a plurality of spaced woodensupport runners or blocks arranged with or without stringer boards. Thewood supports are positioned with respect to each other so as to provideproper load support distribution and also to permit the insertion of theforks of a forklift truck or the forks of a handlift truck under the topdeck, so that the pallet and any load thereon can be lifted, moved, andstacked in storage.

Four-way entry pallets are utilized widely in a variety of industriessince this type pallet permits insertion of lifting forks beneath thetop deck on any of the four perimeters of the pallet. Typically, afour-way entry single deck wooden pallet is constructed by nailing,stapling or gluing nine individual wooden blocks to the bottom surfaceof solid sheet material, at equally spaced distances in columns and rowsof three supports each. Alternatively, three elongated wooden supportrunners, each equally spaced and extending the entire length or depth ofthe pallet deck, are utilized as support members in the assembly of atwo-way entry pallet.

The construction of a four-way entry pallet using support blocks andindividual lumber boards in lieu of solid material for the top deck,generally requires the use of stringer deck boards to maintain theindividual lumber boards in spaced relation. The stringer deck boardsare attached to both the support blocks and the deckboards. In a doubledeck construction including a top deck of solid material and a bottomdeck consisting of three individual lumber boards spaced apart toprovide for receipt of a handlift pallet truck, stringer deck boards arenot required.

As noted above, pallets may be of the single deck or double deck designin which a parallel, full or partial, bottom deck is furnished foradditional rigidity and horizontal support. In the double deckconstruction, the wooden support members are generally nailed to boththe top and bottom deck components.

Pallets that have been constructed with wooden supports fastened to-thedecks with nails or staples tend to loosen with continued usage and thegradual drying out of the lumber. This condition causes the nails orstaples to pull out and protrude from the top surface or deck of thepallet. This problem is a major one and is due to the fact that it isgenerally not possible to obtain any clinch of the nail or staple usedto fasten the decks to i the solid wood support block or runner.

In many instances the protruding nail head or staple damages themerchandise stored on the pallet by tearing or ripping a storage bag,carton, or other type package. .To overcome this problem pallet decksare occasionally bolted to the supports. This construction technique isexpensive as it requires that holes first be drilled in the decks andthrough the wooden supports prior to insertion of the bolt.

Additionally, the use of wood supports increases the overall weight ofthe pallet which results in higher transportation costs when the palletis shipped empty or in use. Also, such wood supports are bulky andcostly to store and ship prior to construction of the pallet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The pallet support of this invention comprisesan upright metal support member of open frame construction, having amultiple number of vertical extremities of which are defined byhorizontally extending wirelike members. Spacers, integral with thewire-like members, extend therebetween and terminate at one or both endsin a tapered prong.

The prongs are adapted to penetrate and be bent back into the undersideof the deck member when the deck is completely pressed-onto the support,thus avoiding the problems of protruding nails and loosening of thepallet elements.

The walls .of the support may be tapered so as to facilitate nesting ofa plurality of like supports in a compact form prior to use in theconstruction of pallets. Pallets constructed with the support members ofthis invention may be either single or double deck pallets and may be ofeither the two-way or four-way entry type.

Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide a pallet supporthaving integral fastening means consisting of a plurality of prongssuitable for simple and fast attachment to various types of pallet deckmaterials such as lumber, plywood, fiberboard, or the like, as forexample, by a press-on or drive-on type operation which would result infaster pallet assembly than is now possible and would reduce overallpallet construction cost.

Another object of this invention is to provide a lightweight palletsupport, without loss of deck support area, subject to variablepositioning for obtaining the maximum amount of support under any givenload condition.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a nesting palletsupport which requires a minimum amount of cube space for storage andshipment prior to use in pallet construction.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a pallet supportwhich incorporates use of wire-like vertical members having prong ends,with or without horizontal wire-like pieces connected thereto, partiallyembedded in a moldable compound to provide additional flat surfacesupport area for the deck components.

Other advantages and features of the present invention will become moreapparent from the following description and claims, and the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a typical double deck pallet,having a solid top deck and three bottom deck boards, constructed withthe support illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an angle shapedsupport for a pallet deck in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating the manner inwhich the prongs of the support are inserted into the pallet deckmembers;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a typical pallet constructedfrom a plurality of top deck boards, three stringer deck boards andthree bottom deck boards, using the conical shaped nesting supports ofFIG. 5;

FIG. 5 is a pictorial representation of the nesting feature of thesupport in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of another embodiment of the invention havinga triangular shape;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of still another embodiment of the support ofthis invention, having a four-sided diamond shape design;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation of a full runner type support of thisinvention, attached to a plurality of top deck boards and three bottomdeck boards;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of a full runner support of this invention,having a zig-zag design, for use in assembling a double deck pallethaving solid top and bottom deck boards;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the support ofthis invention, having prong type vertical wire-like members embedded ina molded conical configuration of plastic or other suitable compound toprovide increased rigidity and additional deck support bearing surface;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of thisinvention, using the embedded molded construction of FIG. 10, to form afull runner support for assembly of a double deck two-way entry pallethaving a solid top and bottom deck boards.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in detail to thedrawings wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout severalviews. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one embodiment of a support inaccordance with the present invention.

The support illustrated in FIG. 2 comprises a selfsupportingsubstantially upright angle shaped unit of open framework construction,having a plurality of spaced-apart vertical wire rods 22, 24, 26, 28 and30, welded or otherwise secured to a multiple number of horizontalspaced-apart wire rods 34, 36 and 38, to form an integral pallet supportunit.

The spaced-apart vertical rods 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30, are tapered at thetwo ends to form pointed prongs 32, for penetrating the pallet deckmembers 44, 46, 48 and 50, and are held apart by horizontal rods 34, 36and 38, which extend there-between.

Generally, the vertical and horizontal wire rod structure is renderedintegral by welding, the horizontal rods being welded to the verticalrods at 40 the point of contact. The spaced-apart top horizontal rod 34and bottom horizontal rod 38, support the pallet deck members. In theFIG. 2 embodiment, an intermediate horizontal rod 36 is provided, tofurnish additional strength and rigidity for the support. After press-onfastening of the supports to the deck members, the top of the upperhorizontal rod 34 of the support, contacts the underside of the top deck44, and the bottom of the lower horizontal rod 38, contacts theupperside of the bottom deck boards 46, 48 and 50.

FIG. 1 illustrates the use of a plurality of supports, generally nine orten, of the angle design, used in the construction of a four-way entry,double deck pallet, having a solid sheet top deck and three spaced-apartbottom deck boards. In this assembly a total of ten supports are used,three units in each of the two exterior rows and four in the centersupport row. In the assembly of the pallet, the supports 20 are placedand positioned between the top and bottom deck boards, generallyassembled on a conveyor line. This assembly of deck board and supportcomponents, is then moved, on the conveyor, into a hydraulic or othertype press having steel backing plates. The press is then activated andthe support rod extremities are pressed into and through the deckmembers and the prongs 32 clinched, in a matter of seconds, thuscompleting the construction of the pallet.

The tapered and pointed prongs 32 penetrate and are pressed through thedeck members 44, 46, 48 and 50, and because of the taper, are bent anddeformed back into the surface of such members upon contact with thepress metal backing plates 52 and 52b as shown in FIG. 3. The palletdeck members 44, 46, 48 and 50, are pressed on to the support prongsuntil one surface of the deck members is substantially flush with theupper and lower horizontal support rods 34 and 38.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the support of the inventioncovering a conical shaped nesting support, used for the assembly of afour-way entry pallet having a multiple number of top deck boards, threestringer deck boards, and three bottom deck boards. This pallet 54 isformed from individual lumber boards 56, 58, 60, 62 and 64 which may benailed, with nails clinched, to stringer boards 66, 68 and 70, to form arigid top deck. This integral top deck or the individual top deck andstringer boards if not nailed together, along with the bottom deckboards 74, 76 and 78, are pressed on to the prongs 72 of the supportsimultaneously by use of press equipment as described for assembly ofthe pallet shown in FIG. 1. In the FIG. 4 pallet, nine of the supports72 are arranged in three equally spaced rows with three supports perrow.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, the open framework wall of the conical shapedsupport 72 is slightly tapered vertically and inwardly as to permitnesting of a plurality of identical supports, to reduce storage andshipping space and facilitate handling of the supports prior to use.This nesting arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 5.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate additional embodiments of the invention. FIG. 6is a triangular shaped support and FIG. 7 shows a diamond shaped unit.Both of these designs, which are generally referred to as being of theclosed type, can be furnished in a tapered configuration for nesting aswell as the straight vertical wall design as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Thematerial for these units as well as most of the other embodiments of theinvention, would be cut from a continuous long strip and then formed orbent into the desired shape, angle, triangular, diamond, etc., with orwithout the corresponding ends of the horizontal rods welded orotherwise fastened together. If additional vertical support over andabove that furnished by the support itself, is required, short blocks ofwood or other material may be positioned within the enclosed support,prior to pressing such on the deck boards. After press-on assembly ofthe pallet, such supplementary support blocks are permanently securedinside the walls of the support, locked in by the top and bottom deckboards. Both the FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 supports can be used-in the same typeof pallet assembly as the angle shaped embodiment shown in FIG. 1, andthe conical embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is an open framework full runner type pallet support, anotherembodiment of the invention. In this illustration, three of such runnersupports'are used with six top deck boards and three bottom deck boards,to assemble a two-way entry, double deck pallet. On each runner support,three prongs extend through the two top and the two bottom, end deckboards, and also through the top and bottom center deck boards. Whereas,only two prongs extend through each of the four intermediate top deckboards. The lower extremities of the vertical rods 22c are welded to thebottom horizontal rod 38c which is bent and formed to partiallyencompass the bottom deck boards 116 and 118 the bottom of which isflush with the bottom of the lower horizontal rod member 380. Theexterior runner supports are set-in from the ends of the top and bottomdeck boards to eliminate and reduce splitting of the boards when suchare pressed on the supports.

FIG. 9 is a runner type support having a longitudinal zig-zag shape, foruse in constructing two-way entry double deck pallets. The zig-zagdesign provides more cross support of the deck members, running thewidth of the pallet, than would be provided using the straight runnertype support illustrated in FIG. 10. A zig-zag runner support having awidth of approximately 1% inches, would provide deck cross supportequivalent to a conventional 2 X 4 wood lumber runner support.Individual short zig-zag supports could also be used, in the same manneras the angle, triangular and diamond shaped units, for the assembly of afour-way entry pallet. In such construction, nine or ten support unitswould generally be used. The zig-zag design has another advantage, whichis the off-setting of the prongs which reduces the possibility of boardsplits, particularly on individual lumber deck boards, during thepress-on operation, that occasionally occur using the straight on-lineprong arrangement such as that shown in the FIG. 8 embodiment.

FIGS. 10 and 11 represent additional embodiments of the invention andinvolve the use of vertical rods or vertical and horizontal rod membersassembled to form a skeleton support which is embedded in a moldableplastic or other suitable compound. The purpose of such compound is tosecure the rods in position, to provide the spaced-apart vertical forkclearance space required for forklift and hand truck handling, and alsoto provide additional flat support bearing surface for the deck membersthan that generally provided by use of only the top and bottomhorizontal rods, as used in the other embodiments.

FIG. 10 shows a conical shaped molded support 122 having a plurality ofvertical steel rods 22c, tapered at the ends to form prongs 32, whichare embedded in a moldable compound 124. A circular shaped horizontallydisposed rod 36f is secured to the vertical rods 22c at their points ofintersection to add additional support to the vertical steel rods 22c.

FIG. 11 illustrates a skeleton type wire rod framework embedded in aplastic or other moldable compound 128 to form a rigid longitudinalshaped runner support 126. Although only one horizontal rod 36f is shownin this embodiment, the number of individual horizontal rods, as well asthe number of individual vertical rods 22f, may vary, in accordance with(l) the overall thickness, height, grade of steel, and size and shape ofthe support, (2) type, size and quantity of the deck boards and anystringer boards to be used and (3) type, grade and capacity of thepallet to be assembled.

It is understood that the length of the prongs may vary according to thethickness of the deck components used including any stringer boards, andwhether or not it is desired that prongs protrude through both deckboards and any stringer boards used. In stringer board construction offour-way entry pallets, where individual lumber boards are used forspaced-apart decking, the deck boards may be nailed and clinched to thestringer boards to form a top deck, by use of conventional nailingmethods. Such top deck assembly would then be pressed on to one of theapplicable supports of this invention together with any required bottomdeck components.

It is contemplated that powered press equipment will normally be used toattach pallet decking simultaneously to nine supports at one time, thusproviding fast and economical complete assembly of the pallet. However,by use of special hammers or other special manually operated mechanicalequipment, attached of the supports can be accomplished on many types ifdecking material such as thin plywood, polyveneer, fiberboard andhardboard.

Modifications are possible within the scope of this invention.

What I claim is:

l. A support for a pallet deck, said support comprismg:

an upright grid-like frame of predetermined configuration including aplurality of spaced vertical wirelike elements held together by aplurality of spaced horizontal elements, each of said vertical wire-likeelements having vertically spaced end portions with prong meansextending from at least one of said end portions for penetration of adeck of a pallet in response to the pressing of the pallet deck againstsaid prong means during the construction of the pallet.

2. The support of claim 1 further including a plurality of wire-likeprong means extending from the other of said end portions forpenetration of a second deck of said pallet in response to the pressingof a second pallet deck against the prongs during the construction ofthe pallet.

3. The pallet support of claim 2 wherein said grid-like frameconfiguration is substantially L-shaped when viewed in plan.

4. The pallet support of claim 2 wherein said grid-like frameconfiguration is substantially cylindrical when viewed in plan.

5. The pallet support of claim 2 wherein said grid-like frameconfiguration is substantially triangular when viewed in plan.

6. The pallet support of claim 2 wherein said grid-like frameconfiguration is substantially rectangular when viewed in plan.

7. The pallet support of claim 2 wherein said grid-like frameconfiguration is substantially serpentine when viewed in plan.

8. A support for a pallet deck comprising:

an upright frame of predetermined configuration including a plurality ofspaced, vertical wire-like elements, at least one horizontally disposedelement intersecting said vertical elements, said upright frame having acentral portion completely embedded in a substantially rigid body,preferably of plastic material, said substantially rigid body havingupper and lower bearing surfaces spaced apart sufficiently to providefork clearance, each of said vertical wire-like elements having an endportion projecting out of said'substantially rigid body, each endportion having prong means for penetration of a deck of a pallet inresponse to the pressing of a pallet deck against said prong meansduring construction of the pallet.

9. The pallet support of claim 8 wherein said upright frame is embeddedin a substantially rectangular mass.

10. The pallet support of claim 8 wherein said upright frame is embeddedin a substantially conically shaped mass.

1. A support for a pallet deck, said support comprising: an uprightgrid-like frame of predetermined configuration including a plurality ofspaced vertical wire-like elements held together by a plurality ofspaced horizontal elements, each of said vertical wire-like elementshaving vertically spaced end portions with prong means extending from atleast one of said end portions for penetration of a deck of a pallet inresponse to the pressing of the pallet deck against said prong meansduring the construction of the pallet.
 2. The support of claim 1 furtherincluding a plurality of wire-like prong means extending from the otherof said end portions for penetration of a second deck of said pallet inresponse to the pressing of a second pallet deck against the prongsduring the construction of the pallet.
 3. The pallet support of claim 2wherein said grid-like frame configuration is substantially L-shapedwhen viewed in plan.
 4. The pallet support of claim 2 wherein saidgrid-like frame configuration is substantially cylindrical when viewedin plan.
 5. The pallet support of claim 2 wherein said grid-like frameconfiguration is substantially triangular when viewed in plan.
 6. Thepallet support of claim 2 wherein said grid-like frame configuration issubstantially rectangular when viewed in plan.
 7. The pallet support ofclaim 2 wherein said grid-like frame configuration is substantiallyserpentine when viewed in plan.
 8. A support for a pallet deckcomprising: an upright frame of predetermined configuration including aplurality of spaced, vertical wire-like elements, at least onehorizontally disposed element intersecting said vertical elements, saidupright frame having a central portion completely embedded in asubstantially rigid body, preferably of plastic material, saidsubstantially rigid body having upper and lower bearing surfaces spacedapart sufficiently to provide fork clearance, each of said verticalwire-like elements having an end portion projecting out of saidsubstantially rigid body, each end portion having prong means forpenetration of a deck of a pallet in response to the pressing of apallet deck against said prong means during construction of the pallet.9. The pallet support of claim 8 wherein said upright frame is embeddedin a substantially rectangular mass.
 10. The pallet support of claim 8wherein said upright frame is embedded in a substantially conicallyshaped mass.